Easter 2024 Sailing in Greece Easter is the perfect time to charter a yacht or learn to sail in Greece. Whilst our sailing season starts early with first charters available from 31st March 2024, Orthodox Easter falls late next year. Greek Easter is on Sunday 5th May 2024 and is, to the Greeks, a bigger celebration than Christmas. The weather is great for a bareboat yacht charter or a flotilla holiday. Or try an RYA sailing course like Competent Crew, Day Skipper Practical or even RYA Coastal Skipper. What’s more you are guaranteed a warm welcome as harbours and villages open up for the start of the season. Great early season discounts and offers guarantee a wonderful holiday! The famous Greek hospitality or ‘φιλοξενία’ (filoxenia – traditional Greek hospitality and the custom of offering protection and hospitality to strangers) goes into overdrive and spills out onto the streets. Many tavernas start the day setting up a lamb on a spit. Locals wander the sea front stopping to eat and talk with friends and neighbours. Typically warm and sunny with temperatures in the early 20s, Easter sailing holidays around the Greek Islands benefit from quiet harbours where mooring is easy. You will also find early season discounts and great offers on charters, RYA sailing courses and skippered charters. Our charter fleet of Bavaria yachts is freshly launched from the boatyard in Vliho, Lefkada. They gleam in the sun after the winter polish. Winds are generally at their best early season before the heat and the high pressures still the air. The Sail Ionian sailing school is often at its busiest in April and May. Firstly, the weather makes it is easier to learn to sail than in the heat of summer. Secondly, spring is a beautiful time on the Ionian Islands with wild flowers everywhere and empty bays and beaches. It’s the ideal time for a family sailing holiday or to sail with a group of friends. Greek people look forward to Easter, particularly on the islands, as it represents the end of the quiet winter and the start of the summer. Tourists are welcomed with open arms as villages and harbours come to life. The bakeries smell of the traditional Tsoureki sweet bread – similar to a sugary brioche. Local children compete by smashing hard-boiled eggs dyed red against each other. The midnight church services on Saturday with candle-lit processions are a beautiful sight. Afterwards, they are often followed by dinner and dancing late into the night. Then on Sunday morning the smell of charcoal and spit roast lamb whets appetites and the wine begins to flow. Greece yacht charter is the ideal way to experience Easter, you can read more about the Greek traditions here. Bareboat charter at Easter allows you to explore all the islands of the Ionian including Kefalonia and Ithaca. Closer to home are the smaller Princes Islands of Meganisi, Kalamos and Kastos. Our base in Lefkada is at the centre of it all. Kefalonia actually celebrates Easter in a big way with processions, fireworks and pots thrown from the church bell tower in Argostli. The skippers are all keen to get back out on the water after the winter. It’s the perfect time for a skippered charter. With a captain to chauffer you around the Ionian you can just relax. Our RYA sailing school and the main charter season starts 31st March this year. Why not do the RYA Day Skipper course? Afterwards stay on for another week skippering your own yacht after gaining your qualification! In conclusion, whether you are coming to Greece for a learn to sail holiday, to charter a bareboat yacht or have the crewed charter holiday of a lifetime Easter is possibly the best time of year. Take advantage of our great discounts and contact us to discuss your Easter sailing in Greece! This post was written by Tom Fletcher